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Day of the Beast | 
| Director: Alex De La Iglesia
Actors: Alex Angulo, Armando De Razza, Santiago Segura, Terele Pavez, Nathalie Sesena
Studio: Vidmark / Trimark
Category: Video
List Price: $69.98
Buy Used: $4.28
You Save: $65.70 (94%)
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 19779
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Ntsc
Language: Spanish (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: VHS Tape
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 99 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 1573627372
UPC: 031398686231
EAN: 9781573627375
ASIN: B00001REAC
Theatrical Release Date: December 23, 1998
Release Date: November 23, 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: VERY lightly rented ex rental. Tape and box are both in excellent condition. Couple of small stickers on box.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Verse, y verse muchas veces... June 2, 2006
J. E. Santos (Bayamon, Puerto Rico)
Si le fascina "El Quijote" y "La Celestina" y los cuentos de Borges, ante ustedes un reto visual que casi iguala en profundidad el ataque al mundo de los signos que hacen Cervantes, Rojas, y Borges. Amen de la complejidad textual es ademas pura diversion, lo que lleva al observador consciente de los muchos niveles a reir, pero a reir ante la trampa que es la vida.
a wonderfully dark, insane romp June 2, 2006
Michael L. White (Westland, MI United States)
How does a holy man meet Satan? It's not like Satan hangs out with the righteous. When the anti-Christ visits the Earth, he'll be surrounded by sinners. Catholic priest, Padre Angel Beriartua (Alex Angulo) realizes this and sets out to commit an array of affronts in order to meet the anti-Christ (and destroy him). Thus begins Alex de la Iglesia's 1996 supernatural comedy.
Padre Beriartua goes on a rampage of transgression. Rather than giving last rights to an accident victim, he bids the man to rot in Hell. Worse yet, he pushes a mime, smokes, and listens to heavy metal music. Aided by metal head Jose Maria (Santiago Segura), the pair kidnap Professor Cavan (Armando De Razza), host of the supernatural talk show "The Dark Zone." From there, the film becomes something akin to THE KING OF COMEDY crossed with THE NINTH GATE.
DAY OF THE BEAST is a wonderfully dark, insane romp and typical of de la Igelsia's outrageous oeuvre. Unfortunately, DAY OF THE BEAST has not been released either as a sell-through title, on DVD, or with English subtitles in the U.S. A beautiful copy of this is available from [..]
Eschatology brings people together April 18, 2006
Eric Zarahn (NY,NY)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The eschatological plot of The Day of the Beast, which has been sufficiently related in the synopsis, does not circumscribe it. It is a grand and generous piece of post-modern art. It is not a horror, a comedy, or an admixture. Rather, this is a very earnest meditation on both the absurdity of aspects of the Western tradition (with the Catholic Church as a worthy proxy) in particular and the human condition in general. By playing the ridiculousness of literal interpretations of the New Testament (explicitly eschatology, but implicitly the whole kit and caboodle) off of the (or less cynically, "an") alternative of grime, incest, illiterate ignorance (to be contrasted with the literate ignorance of the church), and desolation, a highly sophisticated tension is developed which can engender a mild melancholia in the viewer, despite the wild action unfolding on the screen. Though the perspective is ironic, the characters' perspectives are not, each fully immersed in his own tiny life and each taking that life very seriously. The impetus provided to the priest by his belief is the catalyst for the plot development. It drives him away from his cloister and to the ugly city. Though the belief, taken on its own terms has universal implications (in its own universe), we see the priest as a man motivated by a set of ideas and a worldview into which he has been indoctrinated since a young boy. To him it is reality, and in fact there can be no other reality to him. Though this is true for all characters in all stories, the use of such an extreme belief makes this point effortlessly. A perhaps fantastic (and perhaps not) thing is that his strength of belief is able to gain him confederates, the TV charlatan and the Satanist. The question of whether their quest is true or not is irrelevant. Indeed, the viewer even demanding a judgment on whether there is an absolute truth to the quest would burst the dialectical soap bubble. What is happening is a car-crash of beliefs, all born of non-sense. Despite this heady subtext, this film is not in any way distant. The acting is highly engaging, there is action, the city settings are full of color and pleasing to the eye in their stylized grittiness, and the dialogue is a satisfying blend of the absurd and the prosaic, done so well in some Spanish cinema. It would be wrong to say the ending is ironic, because to do so would mean having missed the deliciously ironic nature of the film from the outset. But it is indeed a delightful ending. We almost blush at our previous preoccupation with the conflict between biblical non-sense and everyday non-sense when we see two broken, haggard men in a city park, alone except for each other, and heroes only to each other. Ultimately, this is a film about companionship, reminding us that passing time in limbus patrum with friend than alone.
Beautiful Master Horror Piece November 14, 2003
Alex de la Iglesia takes one of the most scary moments in a society full of technology, absurdity, and vanity (December 31, 1999). Using this elements as a obstacle for a society to realize its lost, only a man, Padre Angel, who has dicovered the code in the bible would save the world. A aesthetically beautyful master piece, a great mise-en-scene, and an plot who would put you in the edge of your chair. The day of the Beast is more than a simple film, and more than another story of a saviour.
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